Who are the real monsters?
What They Say:
Episode #7: “Despair”
The Review
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
Rimuru was warned about the wolves on his doorstep, but his dealings with the forthright monsters and naivety about international politics left him with a sense of false confidence. His relationship with Milim probably added another
layer of confidence that nobody would mess with his country so soon after the previous large-scale battle. These recent developments were a strong reminder that Rimuru is a newcomer to this world and that try as he might to grasp the power levels and politics, he wasn’t getting the full picture.
The battle with Hinata ends with her departing believing herself to be victorious. She underestimates the slime’s abilities. Rimuru only escapes because he uses a move that shows off just how insecure he was about the battle. I can’t remember if the details of his clone ability were disclosed in the anime previously, but Rimuru basically has access to his underling’s abilities. Just as Souei can command a small army of clones to do his bidding, so can Rimuru. His duplicate tactic is enough to trick Hinata into leaving, and Rimuru effectively disarmed her. However, if he had gone up against her directly and she had noticed the trick, it’s unlikely he would have survived.
The fight animation remains a wonderful spectacle, but Rimuru’s arrival home is almost as wonderful. The whole town bathed in a sunset glow, the canted angles, the general feeling of unease as our hero runs through the streets is great for tension building.
Those few moments when he was held up with Hinata were enough for the humans and Clayman’s mole to execute their plan. Rimuru arrives back at the outskirts of his home to recon with his teammates that were outside the conflict. Things look bleak, as nobody outside is sure what happened inside. Rimuru directs his troops accordingly and runs through his surprisingly trashed city. All of the thousands
of monster citizens seem badly shaken, and Rigurd intercepts Rimuru in the blood-spattered streets.
It becomes clear that almost everyone is hiding something massive from Rimuru. What I find interesting is that it doesn’t seem to be the fear of breaking the news to him. It’s as if his whole team is terrified that Rimuru will blame them for the incident and punish them. It’s a very monster way of looking at things, as when Rimuru does face the losses his town took and the woman who was at least partially responsible it looks like he was moments away from enacting swift and merciless justice. I am dying to know what a pissed-off Rimuru looks like, especially in motion, as the slime seems surprisingly calm and collected despite the carnage.
More calm and collected than his underlings. Benimaru stands off against Grucious to get at Mjurran. Youm was already soundly beaten, and Mjurran has no recourse for her actions. She appears ready to face her death, despite the fact that she has two men who were ready to throw away their own lives for her. A hundred dead goblins at the hands of Falmuth knights, made possible by a barrier that cut communication and one that locked down magic.
As Rimuru sits at council wondering what to do to counter the knights of Falmuth, the rest of his team are still sitting on a massive bit of news that is being overlooked. Mainly, while we know Hukuro, Gobta and Shuna are all right, if not injured… nobody has mentioned where Shion or Gobzo are.
In Summary:
Despite the tragedy unfolding in the city of Rimuru, our slime keeps his cool as his own people are the victims of a heinous attack. Rimuru took too many things for granted and his own instructions to his people to not attack humans are coming back to bite him in his squishy butt. Hinata’s attack was only survived by Rimuru having a trick up his sleeve because in a direct assault he stood no chance. Now the Slime King contends with an army on his doorstep, a Demon Lord stirring up trouble, and his own people hiding the carnage from him out of fear. It’s time for revenge, retribution, and restoration.
Episode Grade: B
Streamed by: Crunchyroll & Funimation
